The Jio Phone exchange offer, called the Monsoon Hungama offer, was rolled out yesterday for Jio Stores and was opened for all authorised retail partners today. As part of the offer, feature phone users can switch to Jio Phone by paying a sum of Rs. 501, which is refundable after 3 years of purchase. However, not all details about the offer were revealed including, as it turns out, how much customers will have to actually pay. As per official communication available now, the new Jio Phone exchange offer also requires customers to compulsorily pay Rs. 594 for data and voice calls for six months. This brings the effective price users need to pay upfront from Rs. 501 to Rs. 1,095.

The additional amount of Rs. 594 is essentially six back-to-back recharges of Rs. 99. A new Jio Phone recharge launched yesterday, the Rs. 99 pack provides users unlimited voice calls, 0.5GB of 4G data per day, and 300 SMS messages with a validity of 28 days. With Rs. 594 deposited with the company, the buyers will get six back-to-back Rs. 99 recharges, with validity of 6 months. Furthermore, users will also receive a 6GB bonus data voucher worth Rs. 101. This will take the total data benefits to 90GB for the period of 6 months.

Elaborating on the recently launched Jio Phone exchange offer, the phone swap can be conducted at any Jio authorised retail outlet on producing any old 2G/ 3G/ 4G phone less than 3 years old. Customers should ensure that the old phone that is being exchanged must be in working condition and must provide a compatible charger. It must be handed over to the retailer during the purchase of the new Jio Phone.

While customers will get a new SIM card with the Jio Phone, the option of porting your existing number is also there.

"There are currently 2 Jio Phone plans available: Rs. 49 and Rs. 153. The Rs. 49 plan is a kind of trial plan with 1 GB monthly data, whereas our highest selling plan Rs. 153 provides 1.5 GB data per day. We realized that there are some users who may want lesser data and therefore must get the plan at a lower price. Hence we are introducing Rs. 99 with unlimited free voice, 0.5GB data per day and 300 SMS for 28 days. This will reduce the monthly spends straight away by nearly 50 percent," said a company spokesperson.